Mill Ends Park

Description

Founded in 1946 by journalist Dick Fagan, Mill Ends Park is a circle two feet across. Seriously. It is the smallest city park in the United States (and the world). What began as a unused hole for a utility pole became a planter for flowers, thanks to Fagan. In 1976 the plot was acquired by Portland Parks and Recreation, making it officially the park that it is today. Rumored to be home to...

Editorial Reviews

Recognized by the Guinness Book of Records as the world's smallest dedicated park, this 24-inch patch of green got its start when Dick Fagan, a journalist for The Oregon Journal, decided to beautify a weed-choked bit of sidewalk under his office window. He planted flowers in the hole located in the median at the corner of Southwest Naito Parkway and Taylor Street and dubbed it Mill Ends Park during a St. Patrick's Day dedication in 1948.

Information from the business

Oregonian columnist Dick Fagan often wrote that this charming little park was "where the leprechauns west of Ireland gather." He planted the tiny garden below his office window in 1946, and stories vary as to why. Some say a light pole used to sit in the hole. Others claim it was an ordinary pothole. Either way, Mill Ends Park, which measures four by three by six feet (1.21 x 1.8 meters), holds...

Mill Ends Park is a tiny urban park located in the median strip of SW Naito Parkway, approaching esplanade along the Willamette River near SW Taylor Street in downtown Portland, Oregon, United States. The park is a small circle 2 ft across, with a total area of 452 sq in . It is the smallest park in the world, according to the Guinness Book of Records, which first granted it this recognition in...

In 1946, Dick Fagan returned from World War II to resume his journalistic career with the Oregon Journal. His office, on the second floor above Front Street (now Naito Parkway), gave him a view of not only the busy street, but also an unused hole in the median where a light pole was to be placed. When no pole arrived to fill in this hole, weeds took over the space. Fagan decided to take matters...